Waiters tips: Flaw in assumption

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rahulvsd: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:43 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 6 times

by rahulvsd » Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:40 am

Assessing the potential earnings of tipped service employees can be difficult. Take as an example restaurant waiters: one might assume that the more customers a waiter has, the higher his earnings will be. But this fails to take into account the degree to which the service rendered might suffer when a waiter has so many customers that he cannot fully devote himself to the needs of any of them.

The flaw in the assumption discussed in the argument to the left refers to doubts about the accuracy of which of the following claims?
Choices
A The earnings of restaurant waiters are approximately the same as the earnings of other tipped service employees.
B Restaurant waiters' primary duty is to attend to the needs of their customers.
C The potential earnings of tipped service employees should be measured by examining average earnings rather than the earnings of specific individuals.
D A restaurant waiter's potential earnings depend on the quantity of customers he serves, not on the quality of service he renders.
E A restaurant waiter's earnings depend in part on how many customers he serves.

OA : D. Can someone help me out with why option B wont be a suitable option here.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:40 am

rohit_gmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 158; Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:21 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 13 times

by rohit_gmat » Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:32 am

ok, it took me very very long just to understand the Q stem itself...
and this is wat it means -> the argument discusses an assumption that doubts the accuracy of which of the following claims?

the argument says that ppl assume that if a waiter has more customers then, he should have more tips, but thats not right since the waiter will be unable to focus on any customer (low quality)( and this will probably get him lesser tips)...

the only choice that clearly mentions the assumption is D

B isnt close to the assumption being discussed in the argument.. the argument is all about tips, # of customers & service[/b]

GmatKiss: Legendary Member; Posts: 2789; Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 amFollowed by: 43 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 206 times; GMAT Score:640

by GmatKiss » Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:24 pm

Thats a great question

garima99: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 217; Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:42 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 8 times

by garima99 » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:49 am

rahulvsd wrote:Assessing the potential earnings of tipped service employees can be difficult. Take as an example restaurant waiters: one might assume that the more customers a waiter has, the higher his earnings will be. But this fails to take into account the degree to which the service rendered might suffer when a waiter has so many customers that he cannot fully devote himself to the needs of any of them.

The flaw in the assumption discussed in the argument to the left refers to doubts about the accuracy of which of the following claims?
Choices
A The earnings of restaurant waiters are approximately the same as the earnings of other tipped service employees.
B Restaurant waiters' primary duty is to attend to the needs of their customers.
C The potential earnings of tipped service employees should be measured by examining average earnings rather than the earnings of specific individuals.
D A restaurant waiter's potential earnings depend on the quantity of customers he serves, not on the quality of service he renders.
E A restaurant waiter's earnings depend in part on how many customers he serves.

OA : D. Can someone help me out with why option B wont be a suitable option here.

It does not matter what the primary duty of the waiter is we are concerned about the tip hence D it is

pemdas: Legendary Member; Posts: 1084; Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:33 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 158 times

by pemdas » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:18 am

i read previous posts and decided to comment

the question's stimuli contains the citation of an argument, its conclusion, possible causes (not assumption, as assumptions aren't cited). It says "one can assume" and means cause only

the question stem asks for simple restatement of why the cause attacked in argument is a bad cause - it seeks restatement which is D (very easy)

now B isn't correct because it's too general. One may approach the customers in different ways - this involves quality attributes too. But we need only quantity attribute.

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loving.achin: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 21; Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 4:02 am

by loving.achin » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:28 am

This is how i saw the Q...

Assessing the potential earnings of tipped service employees can be difficult. Take as an example restaurant waiters: one might assume that the more customers a waiter has, the higher his earnings will be. But this fails to take into account the degree to which the service rendered might suffer when a waiter has so many customers that he cannot fully devote himself to the needs of any of them.

The flaw in the assumption discussed in the argument to the left refers to doubts about the accuracy of which of the following claims?
This sentence means that if you doubt one of the answers, you will get the flaw (which is mentioned in last sentence).

Why B is not the answer:-
Doubt B. i.e. Restaurant waiters primary duty is not to attend the needs of customers. Does this lead to the flaw mentioned in last sentence. NO.

Why D is the answer:-
Doubt D. i.e A waiters earning depend not on quantity of customers, but on quality of service. Does this lead to the flaw mentioned in last sentence. YES. Waiter will suffer if he has so many customers to serve and he doesn't fully devote himself to the needs of any because he is not providing quality service.

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